Voting machine with punch card attachment

ABSTRACT

A compact, lightweight, manually operated voting machine with provisions for straight ticket, selective and write-in voting, and for choosing two or more candidates from a list of several running at large; with provision for recording each voter&#39;&#39;s choice on a punch card for computer counting, and including a mechanical counter automatically totalling the votes for each candidate for confirmation of the punch card count.

United States Patent [191 3,846,718 ONeal 1 *Nov. 5, 1974 1 1 VOTINGMACHINE WITH PUNCH CARD 698,450 4/190; glapper 53284 x 1,015,619 1 191eming.... 3 84 X ATTACHMENT 1,161,368 11/1915 Wyman 234/84 X Inventor: bn O ea Arllngton, 1,680,054 8/1928 Lebeis 234/91 Tex. 3,094,277 6/1963Wilcoxma. .235/50 R f [731 Assignee Riverside Dallas, 331931233 31132?i%ii?if...ij.... 33:: 3321225 1 Notice: The Portion of the term of thisgg z i2 patent subsequent to Aug. 1, 1989, r e has been disclaimed3,468,477 9/1969 Gray, Jr. 235/50 R [22] Filed: 1971 Primary ExaminerJ.M. Meister [21] Appl. No.: 199,069 Attorney, Agent, or FirmHubbard,Thurman, Turner Related us. Application Data Tucker [62] Division ofSer. No. 35,671, May 8, 1970, Pat. No. 3,630,434, which is a division ofSer. No. 740,415, May 27, 1968, Pat. No. 3,524,969. [57] ABSTRACT Acompact, lightweight, manually operated voting ma- [52] 234/1 234/116235/50 chine with provisions for straight ticket, selective and 235/55 Rwrite-in voting, and for choosing two or more candillil. Cl. dates froma list of Several running at l g i p Fleld 01 Search vision forrecording each voters choice on a punch 234/102'105 235/50 card forcomputer counting, and including a mechani- 55 R ca] counterautomatically totalling the votes for each h d References Citedcandidate for confirmation of t e punch car count UNITED STATES PATENTS11 Claims, 22 Drawing Figures 650,340' 5/1900 Royal et a1 234/84 XPATENTEllimv 5 m4 3.846718 WEE? 3 OF 5 FIG. [0A.

1 VOTING MACHINE WITH PUNCH CARD ATTACHMENT This is a division ofapplication Ser. No. 035,671, filed May 8, 1970, now US. Pat. No.3,630,434, which in turn isa division of application Ser. No. 740,415filed May 27, 1968, now US. Pat. No. 3,524,969.

This invention relates to voting machines and is directed toimprovements in the construction illustrated and described in my priorU.S. Pat. No. 3,168,240 Which was issued on Feb. 2, 1965. Thisapplication is a division of my copending application, Ser. No. 740,415,filed May 27, 1968.

My priorinventionaccomplished the object of listing candidates for morethan one office in a single column, thus substantially reducing theweight andbulk in comparison to existing voting machines. It alsoemployed a very compact selector mechanism, whereby but one vote out ofeach slate of candidatesis allowed, which helped to provide a relativelysmall and economical machine. My present invention further simplifiesthis selector mechanism by using standard steel balls instead ofspecially designed plungers which substantially reduce the cost ofmanufacture.

Another object of the invention is to improve the layout of the machinefrom the standpoint of reading and operation.

Another object of the invention is toprovide a voting machine whichrecords each vote on a punch card for later computer counting and whichalso records every vote for each candidate on a mechanical counter whichcannot be read untilthe ma'chine is unlocked after the election.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby a statednumber of candidates can be selected from a larger list, for example, asin a city council election, where there are to be only three candidateselected out of a slate of ten.

These and other objects will become apparent from the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings, in which: a f

FIG. 1 is a partly cut away plan view of one configuration of themachine.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged plan view showing the relation of thecandidate'names and the voting keys.

FIG. 3 is a cut away plan view of a portion ofthe selector mechanismsectioned at various levels.

FIG. 4 is a similar view of a different portion of the selectormechanism.

FIG. 5 is an isometricview of a single voting key.

FIG. 6 is an isometric exploded view of two interlocking components ofthe selector mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a reversed isometric view of one of the components shown inFIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a side elevational, partly sectioned view of a portion of th eselector mechanism. FIG. 9 isa cross sectional view of the selectormechanism taken along 9-9 on FIG. 10.

FIG. 10 is a cut away isometric view of a portion of the selectormechanism concerned with voting for candidates at large.

FIG. 10A. is a diagram representing the function of part of thecandidates at large mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary cut away elevational view of the card'punchmechanism.

. FIG. 12 is a fragmentary bottom view of the part shown in FIG. 11.

4 FIG. 13 is an isometric cut away view of the punch pushrod bank.

FIG. 14 is an isometric fragmentary detail of a portion taken from FIG.13.

FIG. 15-is an inverted plan view in part ,of the .elements involved inselection, straight ticket voting and resetting the machine.

FIG. 16 is a cross sectional view taken along line 16-16 of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary sectional view taken ,at the top of the machineshowing a straight ticket key in elevation.

FIG. 18 is a plan view of a part .of the lower end of the straightticket operating mechanism.

FIG. 19 is a side elevational view of apart .of the mechanical counteroperating mechanism. 7

FIG. 20 is an isometric view of the voting lever and the linkagesconnected thereto.

FIG. 21 is a plan view of the resetting key including parts of thecomponents it operates.

Referring now' to FIGS. 1 and 2, when fully assembled, the votingmachine consists of several identical columnar units included in a frame10, and each columnar unit 11 comprising a body 12, voting keys l3, anda cover card 14 on which are taped or printed the various offices andthe candidates names. A cover plate 15 along the left side of themachine conceals the card punching mechanism hereinafter numbered anddescribed, leaving a slot 16 for the insertion of the card. Additionalcover plates 17 along the top of the machine and 18 along the bottomserve to make the mechanism inaccessible to tamperers and to hold themachine together.

A voting lever. 19 at the upper right hand corner of the machine ispulled toward the operator to register his vote. A re-setting key 20 isretained by an official at the voting booth and used to release themechanism v after each vote is recorded, preparing the machine for thenext voter.

The paired voting keys 21 along the top of the machine are for straightticket voting as hereinafter described. The body 12 of each voting unit11 contains apertures 22 through which mechanical counters, hereinafterdescribed and numbered, can be read by removing the cover cards 14 whenthe machine is unlocked after the polls are closed. A key 23 fitting astandard tumbler lock (not shown) gives access to the inside of themachine and is retained by a qualified official at electionheadquarters. The candidate-atlarge selector mechanism index 24 isconcealed by the lower cover plate 18 and must be adjusted atheadquarters for each the plane of the slide election when the machinesare assembled, as hereinafter described. I

Referring now to FIGS. 3 to 8, inclusive, the selector mechanismcomprises, in multiple, the aforementioned voting key 13 shown completein FIG. 5 and havinga vertical post 25 with a socket 26 at its lowerend. A slide 27 extends horizontally from the post 25 and contains ahole 28 accurately machined sothat the periphery onthe far side iscircular and the wall 29 of the hole opposite the post 25 is cylindricaland perpendicular to the post 25 is cylindrical at a 45 angle to theplane of the. slide 27. The thickness of the slide, 27 is one-half.

the thickness of the post 25 and a flange 31 equal to the other half ofthe thickness of the post 25 extends from 27. The wall 30'of the holetoward as shown in FIG. 8. I

diagonal cylindrical surface 30. The diameter of the hole 28 where it iscircular on the far face of the slide 27 is equal to the combinedthickness of the slide 27 and the flange 31. A finger 32 having a camsurface 33 extends beyond the end of the slide 27 for the purpose ofoperating a mechanical counter as hereinafter described.

The body 12of the voting 'rnechanism comprises a 2 pair of notchedplates 34 and 35, respectively, and a series of, identical pairs ofinterlocking blocks 36 and 37, respectively, which fitinto the opposingnotches of the plates 34 and 35. As detailed in FIGS. 6. and 7, thelarger block 36 partly surrounds the smaller block 37 and is U-shapedwithlegs 38 which, in outline, match the outlines of the end faces 39 ofthe smaller blocks 37. Two horizontally separated and parallel holes 40and 41 having their centers parallel to the length of the body 12 arelocated onthe vertical center of the smaller blocks 37. The hole 40extends through each I block 37 while the hole 41 ,isblocked off nearthe surface 42 to form asocket. The diameters of the holes 40 I and 41fit the diameter of the hole 28 in the slide 27.

The space between the legs 38 on the larger block 36 is equal to thelength of the smaller block 37 plus the distance betweenthe centers ofthe holes 40 and 41.

Theback of eachlarger block 36 is provided with a hole 43-of the samediameter and which will align with either of the. holes 40 or 41 whenthe smaller block 37 'is resting against one or the other of the legs38. The

backof the larger block 36 is slotted'horizontally to ackey 25A ispushed to the left to set the;block 37 It it has been voted, the ballswould be in a position indicept the flange 31 of the slide 27 of the key13. The

blocks 36 and 37 and the key slide 27, when nested,

make an assembly three times as thick as the diameter of the hole'40, asisclearly shown'in FIGS. 3 and 4. As shown in FIG. 8 the assemblies arestacked one adjacent the other in any convenient number by fitting thesame into the matchingnotches of the plates 34 and 35. A blank,44,withithe-outer shape of the-larger block 36, but without a hole or slot,is provided to end the series cated at A;,. For the purpose of thisdescription consider that the candidate above A, has not been voted. Nocandidate in A A has been voted and one candidate in A A has been voted.When any key in a series is pushed to the left the ball 45 in the hole28in the slide 27 forces the column of balls downward, the last" one 45aentering the socket 41 of the block 37 set at I the bottom of thecolumn. The spring 46 will not allow the ball 45a todrop more than onediameter into'the socket 41 so his impossible for more than one ball tobe displaced, hence one key can be moved; and only one candidate can bevoted in each series. I

If it is desired to vote more than one candidate out of a series, as forexample a city council, the set-upillustrated in FIG. 4 is used. Theblocks 37 are all in the right hand position so that there is acontinuous column of balls free to move downward against a springsupported stop 49 slidably installed in a tubular receiver 50 the size.of the balls 45. A U-shaped block 51 is attached to the stop 49 by meansof a pin 52 and operates v smoothly on guide rods 53. The compressionspring 54' supporting the stop-49 is relatively long andlimber al lowinga substantial travel of the stop 49. Each time a key 13is moved-to theleft (starting at the top of the column and working down) to vote acandidate, the

column of balls 45 is moved downward displacing'the stop 49 the diameterof one ball. A shoulder 55 on the extension 52 will eventually come torest against an indexing block 56 held by an adjusting screw 57stabilized by a slide rod 58 and turned by a thumb screw wheel 59. Whenthe'machine is set up for voting the indexing block is setfor a certainnumber of allowed selections out of the list of candidates on thatcolumn, as shown in the cutaway portion at the bottom of FIG. 1.

' In FIG. 4 three candidates in the series have been voted When thealigning holes in the parts forming the body a 12 are filled withidentical steel balls 45, there is a pattern as disclosed in FIGS. 3 and4. Each socket 41 in the smaller block 37 contains one ball 45asupported by a helical spring 46 which forces it against the larger 37and the holes 28 in the slides 27 make a continuous column for all thecandidates forone office. The candi-- dates are separated by moving oneof the smaller blocks 37 to the right where the hole 41 lines up withthe hole 43 in the larger block 36. The head of a set screw-47in thetopof each smaller block 37 fits into either end of a dumbbell shapedslot 48 in the upper notched plate 3.4.Theblocks 37 at positions A A andA in FIG. 3 have been set to start a column of candiblock 36. Theballsin the holes 40 in the'smaller blocks dates for a different office. Toaccomplish this the set screw 47isloosened to where it can be moved inthe slot 48 then the key 25A'in that block assembly is pushed to theleft like the key 258 (shown for convenience just above) forcing thewhole series of balls 45 downward so that the ball is eliminated fromthe hole .in the slide 27 of the key involved. Then the block 37 i ismoved to the rightand secured by the-.set screw 47. When the key 25A isreturned to its righthandposition the ball 45acenters -the hole.28 inthe slide 27, as shown at position A. Key 258, as shown, should becon-.sidered only as an illustration of what happens'when and there is roomfor two more. The parts described above belongto the candidate-at-largeselector mechanism 24. mentioned early in the described below. I

It might be that there are more candidates-at-large than can be listedon one column, or'that more can be voted out of that list than can beaccommodated by the receiver 50. Thus it becomes necessary to list thecandidates in two or more adjoining columns that are mechanicallyinteracting. Referring now to. FIGS. 8, 9, 10

and 10A, it will be seen that, the bottom ,of the U- shaped block 51carries a sheave 60 around which runs a chain 61 which is threaded overpaired sheaves 62 at I tachedto the body- 12. This configurationisrepeated on each column and the ends of the chain are fixed (by' meansnot shown) so that'if the jU-block 51 on any column ispushed back oneball diameter, takingup the chain, it limits the available travel spaceof the U-block 51 on the adjoining column by one ball diameter. Forexample, if there are eight candidates to be voted out of a slate ofthirty and thereceiver will accept only six description and further I 81of the toggles 79,

by an adjustable stop 65 from extending to include more than the allowednumber of elected candidates. Thus, if out of eight candidates five arevoted out of column ll, only three more can be voted out of column I, asshown by solid lines. But if only three are voted out of column II, asshown by the dotted lines, then five can be voted out of column I.

The straight ticket voting mechanism, detailed in FIGS. 15, 16, 17 and18, consists of an elongate bottom plate 66 .attacheddirectly under allbut the last two bodies 12 as shown in FIG. 16. Two parallel bars 67 areintegral with the elongate plate 66, and two slightly smaller bars 68lie alongside of the bars 67 and are attached thereto by toggles 69. Thebars 68 are linked to the straight ticket keys 21 as shown in FIG. 17and are held in the down position illustrated by springs 68a. The bars67 and 68 are supplied with holes 70 and 71, respectively, one eachforevery voting unit in the body 12 and which are designed to receivepins 72 and 73, respectively, on cams 74 which can be lifted out andplaced in any pair of holes corresponding to any voting unit. A cam isplaced on one pair of bars 67 and 68 under each Democratic candidatelisted on the column and on the other pair of bars 67 and 68 under eachRepublican candidate listed publican key 21 is forced upward, all theearns 74 on that pair of bars will swing to the position shown dotted inFIG. 15, voting all the Republican candidates in that column as furtherexplained below. Since one Republicancandidate in each series has nowbeen voted, it is impossible to move the Democratic key 21, as thiswould tend to cause an additional voting key 13 to move in each series,which would be impossible.

The earns 74 in the straight ticket voting mechanism interact with aseries of transverse slide bars 75 which constitutional amendments orother propositions re-- quiring yes or no vote, so the notches 76a forthis column on the slide bars 75 are long enough so that the keys inthis column are not affected by the cam action of a straight party vote.v

A re-setting unit comprises two stationary anchors 78 for a pair oftoggles 79 which extend to a rigid bar 80 which lies just under andperpendicular to the slide bars 75, and which, when forced to follow theswinging arc will bear against the depending pins 82 forcing all theslide bars 75'back to their original positions and re-setting all.thevoting keys 13 by means of the notches 76 and the key posts 25. In FIG.15 the slide bar 75a only is shown in the extreme right hand positionrequired to reset the key posts 25. Light tension springs 75b anchoredtothe frame 10 attached to all the slide bars, but shown only once,return the bars to the ready position described above. The reset bar 80is powered by a pressure and 21) which is moved in turn by a pawl 84engaging a hook 85 on the pressure block83. The pawl 84 is actuated bythe return spring 86 of the voting lever 19 as hereinafter described, sothatevery time the lever 19 on the column. When the Reblock 83 (FIGS.15, 20'

. are notched where they intersect the key posts 25, each After eachvoting operation an official inserts the reset key 20 between rollers 90on the pressure blocks 83 and 91 on the pawl 84 forcing the latter offthe hook 85, allowing the reset bar 80 to be returned to its originalposition by means of a spring 92, connecting the bar 80 tothe frame 10.For each voter a punch card is inserted in the slot 16 at the upper lefthand corner of the machine. The card punching unit is primarilyillustrated in FIGS. 11 to 15, inclusive, and comprises a bank ofselector plates 93, one for each voting columnar unit 11. The plates 93are grooved longitudinally, parallel to the voting columns 12 to receivepush rods 94, each progressively longer by the space required by onevoting unit body 12. The longitudinal grooves 95 extend the full lengthof the plates 93 and are intersected by transverse grooves 96 oppositethe voting unit bodies 12, each reaching progressively from just beyondthe first groove 95 to just beyond the last one.

' Transverse push rods 97 are attached to the sockets 26 at the lowerends of the voting key posts 25, the rod at the top of the column beingthe longest, and each one being shorter in a descending series so thatit will block the movement of its corresponding longitudinal rod 94 whenthe key is voted, but will allow the rod to pass when the key is notvoted. The key posts 25 are progressively longer for each voting columnto align the transverse rods 97 with the respective selector plates 93.

The longitudinal push rods 94 extend through a movable perforated plate98 at the end adjacent the card slot 16 and are locked on the far sidewith snap washers 99. Close to the movable plate 98 there is a matchingstationary perforated plate 100 holding punches 101 axially. alignedwith the punch rods 94 and held in place with snap washers 102. A punchplate 103 and a guide plate 104 are held together on each side of thecard slot 16 by pins 105. The movable perforated plate 98 and the guideplate 104 comprise a unit held together by side frame members 106. Whenthe voting lever 19 is pulled towards the operator, bellcranks 107 shaft108 (operated by a linkage described below) pull the punch plate 103against the punches 101 by means of links 109. Only the punches 101blocked by the push rods 94 which are in turn blocked by the transverserods 97 attached to keys which have been voted will resist the motion ofthe punch plate Y103 and perforate the card. The remaining punches 101will slide through the I The jack shaft 108 (as shown in FIG..20) isactuated by a bellcrank 110 connected by a link 111 to a lever 112actuated in turn by a bellcrank 113 on'the main shaft 114 to which isattached the voting lever 19. The length of the lever 112 and theshortness of the bellcrank 113 adds considerable mechanical advantage.

on a jack where it is required to punch the card if a large number ofkeys have been voted.

The card is printed with a space for each possible write in candidate,and the voter writes the name on the card and then votes thecorresponding write-in key on the machine,which will punch the card toshow that a write-in vote has been cast for that office. Referring againto FIG. 20, the pivot pin 115 which connects the bellcrank 113 to thelever 112 carries a sheave 116 around which runs a chain 117, one end ofwhich is attached to the frame of the machine and the other end of whichis attached to the sliding block 118 which carries the above mentionedpawl 84 which engages the pressure block 83. Tension on the chain 117 ismaintained by a spring 119. This chain and pulley linkage provides forthe relatively long travel of the pressure block 83 required to resetthe machine. The pivot pin 115 also operates a link 120 running to abellcrank 121 which turns a second jack shaft 122 which has attachedthereto a short bellcrank123 for each column 11 of 20 voting units inthe machine. Pins on the bellcrank 123 operate slidably in goosenecks124 on the ends of slide rods 125 extending through each voting column,giving is voted the cam surface 33 on the finger 32 of the key slide 27moves under the pawl 128. Then when the voting lever 19 is pulled thepawl'128 rides up over the cam surface 33 and engages the star wheel1270f the counter 126, registering one vote on that counter. Since, atthebeginning of the return stroke of the lever 19, all the voting keysare cleared far enough for the cam surface 33 to miss the pawl 128, itdoes not engage the star wheel 127 on its return trip.

The last voting column 11 adjacent the punch card bank 93 is purposelyused for questions involving only certain precincts, and the keys not tobe voted in any one precinct can be blocked by means of pins-129, FIG.16, set in a shaft 130 lying just under and parallel to the body 12. Thesequence of the pins canbe arranged to lock out certain keys in eachprecinct, or, as in some elections, when-only registered tax payers areto vote on a proposition, the election official can turn the shaft- 130to block off the keys 25 as shown by the dotted outline of the pins 129on ascertaining if the voter is eligible; The shaft 130 can be turned bythe same key 23 that unlocks the voting machine, or by a special key,not shown.

Although'the interacting mechanical motions of this inventionmay appearsomewhat complicated, the end result isa greatly simplified votingmachine from the standpoint of setting up for election, counting votesand use by the voter. A substantial reduction in cost and weight hasbeen accomplished in relation to voting machines now in use, and theweight reduction alone is an important factor in the cost of electionsas the machines have to be transported from official headquarters to thepolling places and back again for each election. Reduced cost of storageis also important, this machine having but a fraction of the volume ofmachines now in use. 1

The invention is notlimited to the exemplary con struction herein shownand described, but may be LII made in various ways within the scope ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

prising: a counter corresponding to each selection key,

means for receiving a recording medium, said means including markingmeans adapted to cooperate with said receiving means to record the voterselections on said recording medium,

mechanical linkage means interconnecting said keys and said markingmeans whereby said linkage means partially blocks said marking means toestablish a mechanical pattern on said marking means corresponding tosaid voter selections, and

voting registering means including means for advancing the counterscorresponding to the voter selections and means for simultaneouslyactuating said I mechanical linkage to register said marking means.

with said recording medium thereby transferring said mechanical blockingpattern in its entirety simultaneously 'to said recording medium. 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said recording medium is a data processingcompatible card and said marking means comprises punches.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said recording medium is adataprocessing compatible card and said marking means comprise means forimprinting the card.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said counter is a mechanicalcounter.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said machine is adapted to impressthe-card,

mechanical linkage means interconnecting said keys and said markingmeans whereby said linkage means partially blocks said marking meanstoestablish a mechanical pattern on said marking means corresponding tosaid voter selections, and

voting registering means for registering the voter selection, said meansincluding means for advancing .the counters corresponding to eachselected key and means for simultaneously moving said card andmarkingmeans into mutual engagement thereby transferring said pattern inits entirety simultaneously to said record card. i I

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said marking means comprise punchesand said linkage means include first push rods reciprocably mounted andincontrolling engagement with said punches,

second push rods in intersecting alignment with said first push rods,and

means associated with said keys for selectively moving said second rodsto intercept and block the reciprocation of the corresponding first pushrods thereby establishing said mechanical pattern.

8. A method of recording voter selection in a voting machine havingmultiple voting keys each representing a different selection, saidmethod comprising:

inserting a computer compatible selection card into said'machine,manipulating the selection keys corresponding to the voter selection topartially block a marking means thereby establishing a predeterminedmechanical pattern corresponding to the selections on said markingmeansadjacent the card, registering said selection by actuation counterscorresponding to the selected keys and simultaneously bringing said cardand said marking means into mutual engagement thereby impressing saidpattern in its entirety simultaneously on said card, and processing saidimpressed card to tally the voting results.

9. The method of claim 8 checked against the counter racy of the votecount.

10. A method of permanently recording voter selections with a votingmachine having multiple keys, each representing a different selection,said method comprisingthe steps of:

inserting a recording medium into said machine,

manipulating the selection keys corresponding to the voter selection topartially block a marking device wherein said card tally is tally toinsure the accuthereby establishing a predetermined mechanical patterncorresponding to the voter selections on the marking device, registeringsaid selection by causing said pattern in its entirety to be transferredsimultaneously to said recording medium from said marking device,

actuating the appropriate selection key indicating a write-in choice,

removing said card after registering said selection,

and

indicating the write-in selection on said card.

11. A method of permanently recording operator selections with a votingmachine having multiple keys, each representing a different selection,said method comprising the steps of:

- inserting a recording medium into said machine,

manipulating the selection keys corresponding to the operators selectionto partially block a marking device thereby establishing a predeterminedmechanical pattern corresponding to the operator selections on saidmarking device, and registering said selection by causing said patternin its entirety to be transferred simultaneously to said recordingmedium from said marking device and causing simultaneous action ofcounters to record the numerical cumulative tally.

1. In a voting machine having multiple selection keys, multiple meansfor registering the voter selections comprising: a counter correspondingto each selection key, means for receiving a recording medium, saidmeans including marking means adapted to cooperate with said receivingmeans to record the voter selections on said recording medium,mechanical linkage means interconnecting said keys and said markingmeans whereby said linkage means partially blocks said marking means toestablish a mechanical pattern on said marking means corresponding tosaid voter selections, and voting registering means including means foradvancing the counters corresponding to the voter selections and meansfor simultaneously actuating said mechanical linkage to register saidmarking means with said recording medium thereby transferring saidmechanical blocking pattern in its entirety simultaneously to saidrecording medium.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said recordingmedium is a data processing compatible card and said marking meanscomprises punches.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said recordingmedium is a data processing compatible card and said marking meanscomprise means for imprinting the card.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1wherein said counter is a mechanical counter.
 5. The apparatus of claim1 wherein said machine is a voting machine.
 6. In a voting machinehaving multiple voter selection keys, multiple means for registering thevoter selections comprising: a counter corresponding to each selectionkey, means for receiving a record card, marking means adjacent said cardreceiving means having a multiple marking member therewith adapted toimpress the card, mechanical linkage means interconnecting said keys andsaid marking means whereby said linkage means partially blocks saidmarking means to establish a mechanical pattern on said marking meanscorresponding to said voter selections, and voting registering means forregistering the voter selection, said means including means foradvancing the counters corresponding to each selected key and means forsimultaneously moving said card and marking means into mutual engagementthereby transferring said pattern in its entirety simultaneously to saidrecorD card.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said marking meanscomprise punches and said linkage means include first push rodsreciprocably mounted and in controlling engagement with said punches,second push rods in intersecting alignment with said first push rods,and means associated with said keys for selectively moving said secondrods to intercept and block the reciprocation of the corresponding firstpush rods thereby establishing said mechanical pattern.
 8. A method ofrecording voter selection in a voting machine having multiple votingkeys each representing a different selection, said method comprising:inserting a computer compatible selection card into said machine,manipulating the selection keys corresponding to the voter selection topartially block a marking means thereby establishing a predeterminedmechanical pattern corresponding to the selections on said marking meansadjacent the card, registering said selection by actuation counterscorresponding to the selected keys and simultaneously bringing said cardand said marking means into mutual engagement thereby impressing saidpattern in its entirety simultaneously on said card, and processing saidimpressed card to tally the voting results.
 9. The method of claim 8wherein said card tally is checked against the counter tally to insurethe accuracy of the vote count.
 10. A method of permanently recordingvoter selections with a voting machine having multiple keys, eachrepresenting a different selection, said method comprising the steps of:inserting a recording medium into said machine, manipulating theselection keys corresponding to the voter selection to partially block amarking device thereby establishing a predetermined mechanical patterncorresponding to the voter selections on the marking device, registeringsaid selection by causing said pattern in its entirety to be transferredsimultaneously to said recording medium from said marking device,actuating the appropriate selection key indicating a write-in choice,removing said card after registering said selection, and indicating thewrite-in selection on said card.
 11. A method of permanently recordingoperator selections with a voting machine having multiple keys, eachrepresenting a different selection, said method comprising the steps of:inserting a recording medium into said machine, manipulating theselection keys corresponding to the operator''s selection to partiallyblock a marking device thereby establishing a predetermined mechanicalpattern corresponding to the operator selections on said marking device,and registering said selection by causing said pattern in its entiretyto be transferred simultaneously to said recording medium from saidmarking device and causing simultaneous action of counters to record thenumerical cumulative tally.